1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a film housing device which is provided with a mechanism for unlocking a cover of a cartridge compartment, and particularly relates to the unlocking mechanism, provided in a type of a camera in which the cover of the cartridge compartment is electrically unlocked from a body of the camera, which makes it possible to take the film out from the cartridge compartment when an electric source of the camera gets short of an electric power.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, such a type of a camera has been proposed as one in which a cover of a cartridge compartment keeps locked with respect to a body of the camera till all the frames of the film housed inside a film cartridge are exposed to light in photo-takings, and in which the cover of the cartridge compartment is electrically unlocked from the body, at time of taking the cartridge out from the cartridge compartment after all the frames thereof are exposed.
According to the mechanism of the camera, however, it is impossible to take the cartridge out from the cartridge compartment, when a battery as an electric source of the camera dies out.
If such a situation occurs after the film with all the frames of which are exposed to light is rewound inside the cartridge set inside the compartment, a user troublesomely must replace the old battery with a new one in order to unlock the cover of the cartridge compartment from the camera body for taking the film therefrom. In other words, the user can not take the film cartridge out from the cartridge compartment without the new battery.
Neither can the user take the film cartridge out therefrom without the new battery, if such a situation occurs as the battery wastes away to stop a film-rewinding mechanism of the camera before a completion of the film-rewinding operation.